The G-Flex is here. LG’s curved phone is available on AT&T, Sprint & T-Mobile right now and everyone is talking about it. Mostly saying bad things about the device, but is it really that bad? We take a look at the T-Mobile and Sprint versions of this massive phone and let you know what we do think. Hit the break and check out our full review of the G-Flex.
The G Flex takes a lot of cues from the G2 and G-Pro 2. LG kept a lot of the design language the same between their new devices. The volume rocker and power button are still on the back right below the camera. However they feel a lot better than they did on the G2. The volume buttons are now indented so they are noticeably more distinct and easy to find. The front of the phone has the same clean slate as previous LG phones. The whole phone is wrapped in slimy plastic that makes the device slippery and a fingerprint magnet. This is the only thing LG brought over from the G2 that I wish they wouldn’t have.
I have been purposefully ignoring the elephant in the room with this phone. The G Flex is MASSIVE! It sports a 6 inch display, and it feels as massive as it looks. I don’t have the largest hands in the world, but I definitely don’t have small hands and its not comfortable at all to hold. The G Flex is especially bad when trying to use one handed, I don’t recommend anyone NOT in the NBA try to use this device with just one hand. As far as the curve is concerned, it’s really not bad. It has a nice feel and it’s the right angle to make it not awkward to use. It if the device was a smaller size it would actually make for a great experience, but we’ll get to that later.
I will put this plan and simple, the screen on the G-Flex phone is less-than-desirable compared to what we expect from LG. Its a 6 inch OLED display with a 720p resolution. When looking just at the phone or looking at text, you can easily see how bad this screen really is. There actually looks like there’s a film or something on the screen as you can easily see pixels on the screen. With all of that said, watching videos on this display is awesome. The size and the curve actually make for a great viewing experience. It’s watching your own personal curved TV, that kind of fits in your pocket. I would have loved this with 1080p resolution.
Under the hood lies a quad-core 2.26GHz Snapdragon 800 processor teaming up with 2GB of RAM and 32GB storage. It is essentially the same CPU as in the G2 and it just as good as its non-curved predecessor. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The G Flex has a massive 3500 mAh battery inside. It is very easy to get a day out of this phone if not more. I was able to go 16 hours regularly before hitting getting close to 20%. With heavier use I would get a between 10 and 12 hours. The average user could EASILY get 2 full days out of this battery. The 720p screen really helps with this. If this was a 1080p screen you would get half of the battery life without a doubt. With my time with it, I was very surprised at how little the screen actually drained on the battery. I would watch a YouTube video or play a good 5 mins or so of a game and I might see 1 percent come off the battery. Kudos, LG.
The G-Flex is running LG’s custom skinned version of Android 4.2. Which surprisingly isn’t that bad. I do miss lock screen widgets, as that is one of my favorite features of newer versions of Android. LG has done a really nice job with the UI on the G-Flex. It has a new darker theme which really looks nice, along with the new icon set.
There are a few new software features that make use of the giant screen. LG has stolen from Samsung’s book of tricks and added a Multi-Window feature that allows users to have 2 apps running on the screen at once. It’s not great by any means, and with the screen this big you really miss the S-Pen from the Note 3 when using software like “Dual Window”. Other than stylus-envy if you like LG’s custom skin you’ll be fine and if you don’t, you will want to grab a new look within the Play Store to suit your needs.
The G-Flex is an amazing proof of concept. It really shows what LG can do as a company. They are really trying to innovate and make LG a brand you think of when it comes to Android phones. i thought the idea of a curved screen was really a novelty, but LG has made it work. The only issue with the G-Flex is it’s way too big. If the G3 had a curved screen and was under 5.5 inches it would really be a compelling piece of tech. The back of the G-Flex has a coating on it that allows the phone to take shallow scrapes and scratches and repair itself whenever heat is applied. This feature is a great starting point to dealing with wear and tear on devices. It works, not great, but it definitely works. This is an innovation that really gives a good case why people should be paying attention to what LG has up their sleeves for the future.
The G-Flex is a great proof of concept. But I don’t know if that makes it a good buy. If you want to be on the bleeding edge of tech, then yes, I can definitely make the case for you to buy the G-Flex. Also, if you’re someone with screen envy and always need to have the biggest screen, the G-Flex is definitely up there and something you should look into getting. However, for the average consumer, I can’t honestly see a reason to get this phone. Average consumers should however see the G-Flex and get really excited about what LG has coming in the near future. The G-Flex offers a lot of features I would really like to see in the next flagship from LG.
